I am a penny pinching, thrift-store loving, money saving lady who loves a homey home! So why spend all my money on decorations from the store when I can make my own for way less!? So, because I know there are so many out there just like me, I find it my duty to share my work and ideas to my thrifty kindred spirits.

Menu

Category Archives: Uncategorized

So you may not know that aside from being thrifty, I am also quite nerdy. I’m not talking about smarty pants with glasses nerd. I am talking Queen of the Nerds, nerd level over 9000, I’m every kind of nerd you could classify nerds into. Think Leonard on Big Bang Theory. I’m a scientist (Genomics). I play video games (PC master race!), I read high fantasy and science fiction novels for funsies. I watch Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter on the monthly. I have a tattoo in elvish on my forearm for all the world to see. I watch anime and go to conventions and cosplay. I like to wait after the credits in marvel movies…anyway you get the point.

So we bought a house and I wanted a doormat, but not some doormat that said “welcome”, cause that’s not extra enough for my liking. I was browsing on etsy for one with some pizzazz and came across some Lord of the Rings doormats with like the Eye of Sauron and like the Doors of Durin. Now these are like 50 dollar mats which, I don’t know about you, is too rich for my blood, but I got inspired! So I took the translation from the Doors of Durin riddle and slapped it on a coir mat I paid $9 for at Target.

Taa Daa!

I think it turned out pretty well for my first try though the words are a little close together in the first line.

What you need:

Coir or coconut mat (Target has one for $9)

Glossy acryllic craft paint

Round shaped paint brush

Craft Foam

Exacto knife

Painter’s tape or something similar

Sharpie

Directions:

First I found an image of the font used in Lord of the Rings inspired things like artwork etc. I wrote out what i wanted on the craft foam in thick lettering that I then cut out with the exacto knife to create a template.

I then taped my template onto the mat, which is slightly difficult since the mat is not the best surface for tape to cling to so i wrapped in around the back of the mat too since its rubber and the tape stuck better on that.

I then dipped a fairly large round shaped brush in the paint and did a stipple motion while holding the template edges down in the area i was painting on.

It was as simple as that! I let it dry for a few days and so far (a year later) it has held up and the paint has not faded. Hope you create your own welcome mat that is as inspired as you!

Inspired by Santa’s Coat winebottles on Pinterest. I made these for my Mom for Christmas. They are easy to make and so cute!

What you need:

Empty wine bottle

White spray paint

Black felt for the hat

Buttons

Twine

Burlap ribbon

Hot glue gun/glue

I washed each bottle with dish soap and warm water, be sure to remove any labels. Sometimes the labels leave a residue from the adhesive and this can be removed with a product called “goo gone”. I then let them dry completely. Next you spray paint each bottle with very light coats. Wait till each coat is dry before applying another until the bottles are painted evenly and completely. If you try and put too many coats on at a time, you may get drips and thicker coats tend to chip easier. I did not use any special spray paint but I did look for one that said it worked on glass on the label.

After letting your bottles dry completely, you can start adding the decorations. I hot glued buttons on along with a little bow-tie made from burlap ribbon and twine. There are many tutorials out there on how to make all kinds of bow-ties.

Lastly I made the top hats out of black felt bought at any craft store. First you cut out a large circle for the brim, second, a smaller circle for the top and last, a long rectangular strip for the sides of the hat. Be sure to cut your strip a width that is appropriate for the height of your hat. After cutting your pieces, take the bigger circle that will be the brim and cut a hole in the center large enough for the neck of the wine bottle to fit through. Once you cut it, you can fit it over the neck of the bottle and put a couple of hot glue dots around it just to make sure it is secure. After that cools, wrap the long strip around the neck so that the bottom of the strip meets the brim and trim the strip down so you do not have excess felt. Next take your hot glue and put a small bead around the neck of the bottle close to where the brim sits and also a little bit on the two ends of the strip itself. Wrap the strip around the neck again and secure it down to the bottle neck. Lastly take your smallest circle and put some hot glue around the bottom side and stick it on top of the bottle neck to create the top of the hat.

You can use black puff paint to kind of fill in any spot you can see the white of the bottle through the seems of the pieces of felt.

Well, this is my first blogging experience so I suppose introducing myself should be my first task. I am Emily, a recent graduate with a lot of student loans, lacking a career-type job. As depressed as I am about that, my outlet is making my drab apartment very warm, inviting and well, homey. Making something has its own way of giving you a little boost in pride and what makes it even more special is if its cheap. That is what I am all about. There’s nothing better than going to a thrift shop and haggling something you know has the “potential” down to dirt cheap. I know there are many more people like myself out there, so my hope is that my ideas will extend to you.

So, another thing I love is going to my local dollar store. There are so many possibilities! Recently I had been looking at a wall by my dining table and thinking there needs to be something there. So, I came up with my Collage Birds! I bought three frames from the Dollar Tree, took the backs off and pasted some collage birds I made from old magazines and voila! Art!